The
sign in the tree nursery caught my eye. It said simply, "The best
time to plant a tree was 25 years ago." Thanks a lot, I thought to
myself. But the message on the back of the sign was much more hopeful.
It said, "The second best time to plant a tree is today."
The year was 1913. The French writer Jean Giono visited the northern part
of France, just at the base of the French alps. It was a desolate, barren
kind of land. Except for a few gardenias and flowers and a little bit
of grass, it really was barren. As he visited and walked about, Jean Giono
was struck by the desolation. Nevertheless, he came away from that walking
tour with one thing — an image of a shepherd — a lone shepherd
walking with his dog and his sheep. Around the shepherd's neck hung a
big basket containing hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of acorns. Every
day as that shepherd would walk with his dog and his sheep, he would take
those acorns and he would stop every so often and he would plant acorns.
Each day of his life since 1900 the shepherd planted one hundred acorns.
The
shepherd's name was Elzéard Bouffier. Jean Giono talked to this
shepherd. He said, "This is such a desolate land. Why even the stream
over here that used to have water running through it is dried up. Why
plant your acorns here? Why not go to a part of France that is more promising?
Why choose this barren waste land? I mean, this land is beyond redemption."
Elzéard Bouffier simply said, "My job and task is to beautify
France and so I will continue to plant one hundred acorns every day of
my life.
As Jean Giono went back to his office, he could not get that shepherd
and the sheep and the dog out of his mind. He kept thinking of Elzéard
Bouffier. And during the years after 1913, he couldn't get the man out
of his mind; so he visited again in 1920, wanting to see if Elzéard
Bouffier was in the region. Again he walked and sure enough there was
indeed a small forest beginning to grow — trees just about shoulder
height. Jean Giono could barely contain himself.
Once again the could not get Elzéard Bouffier out of his mind,
so he came back thirteen years later in 1933. And there were not only
trees — acorns had grown into oak trees that were starting to bloom
and blossom in a natural forest — but the air began to be fragrant
and suddenly the stream started to flow with water again. This time Jean
Giono could not contain himself. He went to the French government
who sent in inspectors and declared the land a state forest. A law was
passed that no fires could be taken into that place — you could not
even light a fire in that region for they wanted to protect the natural
forest.
When Jean Giono returned again in 1947, Elzéard Bouffier was still
planting trees — one hundred acorns every day. But this time there
was
not only the fragrance of the oak trees and the streams filled with running
water — the whole ecology of the region had changed. People built
homes, and gardens, and parks and schools and hospitals. Towns and cities
grew. Jean Giono, in 1947, wrote a book entitled The Man Who Planted
Trees, the story of the life of Elzéard Bouffier.
A story of one man, one life — one shepherd who changed a whole region
because he planted trees. Almighty God wants to change the ecology of
this city. God wants to change the ecology of New York, and of New Jersey,
and of Connecticut, and of the eastern United States, and of the nation,
and of the world. And you know God's strategy for changing the whole ecology
of this whole region? His strategy is to find good soil and plant acorns
— seeds of faith in good soil — transforming an individual's
life so that the region around him or her might be transformed as well.
God is always on the lookout — looking everywhere only God can, for
good soil, good fertile soil that might blossom and bloom and bear fruit
and transform a region of the world.
God is like a sower. God is sowing the seed. Some of the seed, Jesus tells
us, falls on hard, tough, brittle soil. It is tough like the path that
was beaten down by camels, mules, donkeys, and many travelers in Jesus's
day. When the seed fell on it, it could not penetrate into that hard,
tough, brittle soil. Is there anyone here who is hard, tough soil? Seemingly
self-sufficient. "I don't really need God," some say. "I
am doing quite well on my own thank you very much." Impenetrable,
not interested in what God might have to say. Making life decisions without
any prayer. Not really against God. Just indifferent to God. Not allowing
God to penetrate in any way. Anyone here hard soil?
I
hope that you won't laugh when you leave the church today. There are volunteers
in the back of the sanctuary holding baskets of acorns. If you would like,
please pick up an acorn. I'd love you to put it on your desk at the office.
Or, maybe on your dresser at home. Maybe you would keep it in a purse.
But put it in a place where it might just remind you that the world has
enough hard soil — and the world has a lot of shallow soil with no
depth — and the world has a lot of cluttered soil that does not have
time for the supreme. But the world is waiting and God is waiting for
good soil in whom God can plant a seed of faith that will blossom and
bloom thirty, sixty, a hundred fold — and change the ecology of the
world. So the message on the sign said, "The best time to plant a
tree was 25 years ago." Thanks a lot. But, "The second best
time to plant a tree" . . . the second best time to plant a tree
. . . the second best time to plant a tree is," say it with me, "today!"
